Isaiah Nicholas Oneal, age 22, from Tyner, North Carolina. Their last known residence was in Alaska.
Spouse: Arin
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 25th Brigade Support Battalion, 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team
Date of death: Friday, November 26, 2021
Death details: Died in his personal vehicle in Fairbanks, Alaska. Foul play not suspected
Source: Army Times, Anchorage Daily News, Facebook
John Hutchings Winborne, age 24, from Edenton, North Carolina, Chowan county.
Parents: William H. Winborne
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, October 2, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Benjamin F. Twiddy from North Carolina, Chowan county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, November 29, 1950
Death details: On November 27, 1950, the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), tasked with replacing the 5th Marine Regiment on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir, arrived at the P’ungnyuri Inlet. That night, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a surprise attack against the 31st RCT. Although the Chinese were numerically superior, the 31st RCT managed to repel the initial attack. The CCF attacked again on the night of November 28, and late on the morning of November 29 the men occupying the northernmost perimeter conducted a fighting withdrawal to consolidate with the rest of the RCT in the perimeter south of the P’ungnyuri Inlet. The CCF continued their attacks on the consolidated perimeter, and on the night of November 30, the Chinese launched a massive attack. On December 1, the 31st RCT began to withdraw from the P’ungnyuri Inlet to Hagaru-ri. Heavy fighting occurred during the withdrawal and many more men were lost. Remnants of the 31st RCT began arriving at Hagaru-ri on December 2. The CCF then attacked the village, and the 31st began to withdraw to Hamhung on December 6, 1950. Corporal Benjamin Franklin Twiddy III entered the U.S. Army from North Carolina and was a member of the Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery, 7th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on November 29, during the overnight fighting that took place at in south of the P’ungnyuri Inlet. HIs remains were not recovered from the battlefield at the time of his loss, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Twiddy is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Haywood Granby from Gastonia, North Carolina, Chowan county.
Spouse: Mary F. Belk
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, December 18, 1944
Death details: He was aboard the destroyer USS Hull as it operated as part of the Fast Carrier Strike Force in the Philippine Sea. On December 17, 1944, the Hull was participating in refueling operations when the ships of its fueling group were engulfed by Typhoon Cobra. The Hull lost its ability to steer amid the enormous waves and began taking on water. The Hull eventually took on too much water to stay afloat and rolled and sank shortly before noon, on December 18. Sixty-two crew members were rescued, but a little more than two-hundred crew members were lost in the sinking.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
William H. Jr. Coffield from Chowan County North Carolina.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, July 9, 1942
Death details: On May 21, 1942, Japanese guards conscripted (a forced enlistment) American prisoners of war (POWs) from the Camp O’Donnell POW camp for a road construction detail along Tayabas Road, near Calauag, Philippines. During the journey to their work site, the group stopped at the Pasay Elementary School, which was being used as a POW holding camp, to replace several unfit Camp O’Donnell prisoners on the project with newly-captured POWs from Corregidor. The number of prisoners exchanged is unknown, but the work detail arrived at the Tayabas Road site on May 29. Nearly three hundred POWs began road construction along the Basiad River to connect Route 1G (Old Tayabas Road) with a highway running north from Legazpi on the Bicol Peninsula. As work progressed, many POWs fell ill to malnutrition and disease. Over the next two months, Japanese guards sent the sickest prisoners 175 miles north to Bilibid Prison in Manila, though the number and identity of the POWs sent to Bilibid are unknown. The Japanese guards closed the project by late July when most prisoners became too sick or weak to work. Any surviving POWs were sent to Bilibid, while those who died while working on the project were buried either at the work site, at Bilibid Prison, or at other locations along the way. Corporal William H. Coffield Jr. joined the U.S. Army Air Forces in North Carolina and served with the 803rd Engineers Battalion in the Philippines during World War II. He was taken prisoner after the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and forced on the Bataan Death March to Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac Province. While at Camp O’Donnell, CPL Coffield was assigned to the labor crew working on the Tayabas Road project. He reportedly died of what was likely malaria, dysentery, and anemia on July 9, 1942, and was buried in the cemetery at the Basianan POW camp in Carmines Norte Province. His remains could not be located after the war and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Coffield is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives